Thread: My workout journal

Thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and start my own :D

Trained chest/biceps today

after thorough warm-up

(weights in kg)
incline smith machine (30 degrees): 60x15, 80x10, 100x3, 80x6
flat barbell bench press: 50x15, 70x12, 90x6
incline dumbell flies: 19x12, 23x12, 28x8
cable flies: (weights are irrelevant because of the variability in pulley system)- 4 sets at various angels, 15, 12, 10, 8

straight-barbell preacher curl: 25x12, 30x12, 30x12
alternate dumbell curls: 15x12, 18x8, 22x6
cable curls: likewise as with cable flies: 14, 10, 8

general notes: this is my last workout before a week off and I did not feel strong, so decided to throttle the weight back a little and keep rest times between sets to a minimum. workout took me about 40 minutes from first working set to last. however, my chest and bi's are definitely weak points in terms of strength so that is no excuse :D

anyway i guess i won't have much to write about for the next week and a bit :D

meh i hate the smith machine, they're only good for standing calf raises IMO. :D

i remember on one of the forums, someone emailed ronnie about what he thought of the smith machine and why he never used it

he replied something along the lines of 'man i dont care if u r tiny tim, smith machine useless'


:D

Smith machine reduces the need for stabilisers which will allow you to lift heavier weights. Anything that changes a workout routine occasionally is good IMO :).

yep, but it's interesting how your body's structure can influence the weight on any given exercise.

my incline barbell bench press pr is 100kgx6- i couldn't duplicate that with the smith machine.

however i feel much more comfortable incline pressing dumbells, and usually use that as a staple- i'll happily press the 45's.

my long arms suck for chest work though, give me good ole back day any day :D

incline dumbbell flies 28x8
28kgx8 reps?
thats pretty good..
if i done that my shoulders would pop out during the first rep :p

Originally Posted by sticky

incline dumbbell flies 28x8
28kgx8 reps?

Most likely, all of hllmsc's routine write-up is kg first then reps.

well i've been busy as hell of late but am back after a week off and thought i would continue the training journal

today was shoulders and calves, first week back after a week off the gym

(after a thorough warm-up)

db presses- 26x15, 30x12, 35x8
barbell front raises superset with barbell military press- 2 supersets
seated db side laterals- 15x8, 12x12, 8x16
cable side laterals- 3 sets
seated bent over db raises- two drop sets from 15x8-6 to 11x6

standing calf raises: (after thorough calf warm-up)- 260x12, 300x10, 340x8 and then a drop-set down from 340- 260, 180, 120.
toes-together calf presses on the leg-press machine- two sets of 8 reps with 3 plates a side.

notes: after years of experimenting with workouts, i have found that my shoulders generally respond well to high volume training. i always try to train intensely, after the first exercise my rest between sets drops to 45seconds- 1 minute. i'm not there to gain strength as a primary goal so my form is as good as i can get it- i really focus on feeling the muscle. haviing said that, i often make the last set of an exercise a heavier set to failure.

today's intensity was good, strength was a little iffy as is always the day after a week back. always rearing to go and train intensely after a lay-off, just got to watch the form!

Gotta love drop sets for calves, they work well for me.

How often do you train calves?

yeah, gotta love them, but gee they're embarrasing- get to the last stage and you're struggling to move a couple plates :D

these days i train calves once a week. trained them twice a week for the first three years, but i found that i got as good results training them just the once.

this was from tuesday:

back/tris

(after thorough warm-up)

bent over bb rows: 60x15, 80x10, 100x8, 110x5
db rows: 35x12, 42x10, 50x8
close-grip pulldowns: 3 sets, around 12-15 reps each
one-arm machine rows: 3 sets: 15, 12, 8

cable-pressdowns supersetted with close-grip smith presses: 3 sets, pyramidding up in weight as usual
machine dips: 15, 12, 8

notes: used straps on the heaviest sets of back work- i really like pyramidding
this is the last time i use all machines in a triceps workout! decided to give it a try and it was overrated- i felt a pump but beyond that, nothing
i'm not going to put the weights for the cable and machine exercises because it's pretty much meaningless.

Are the weights in kgs, if so thats some heavy bent rows, impressive.

I still remember Ronnie in that cruddy gym doin his machine dips on one of his videos. Always think of him when I hear people doin them. Bit like 'Carpark Lunges'.

Wish i had a dip machine.

ain't nothin but a good ole creaky dip machine :D

(yep, weights in kg)

today was chest and bis
(after thorough warm-up)

incline bb press: 15x50, 6x50, 8x70, 3x70, 4x90, 2x100
machine presses: 3 sets, 12, 8, 5
incline dumbell flies: 12x17, 10x17, 8x25 (2 second hold on the bottom stretch of the movement on the first two sets)
flat bench press: 8x60, 8x60 (wide grip, and yeah, i know, my bench is weak!)
bent over cable cross overs: 12,8,6

standing barbell curls: 12x25 drop set to 15, repeat, 8x35
standing dumbell preacher curls: 8x13, repeat, repeat
machine preacher curls, one arm: 12 reps, 8 reps

notes: training without a spot makes it pretty hard to go heavy on incline. could probably have got one more, but wasn't confident in my ability to rack it on my own. watch this space for more reps next week.
had a little trouple with my right forearm/upper-arm joint so didn't do anything spectacular with bis- just concentrated on feeling the muscle.
cable crossovers are bentover at the waist as in bent over laterals for rear delts- horizontal to ground.

i do alot of my training on instinct, so what looks really weird for a set-progression seems fine to me- it's almost as if when i do a second set with the same weight, because i get accustomed to it, it feels lighter than the first set with the same weight. i'm pretty aware that it's psychological and i'm probably tiring myself out, but since i don't train with a spot i like the feeling that it gets lighter on the second set- and makes it easier to up the weight on the next.

legs today...

after thorough warm-up:

leg-extension: 3 sets; first set, 15 reps; 2nd set, 10 reps, drop set to first set weight for 5 reps; 3rd set, 6 reps, drop set to 2nd set weight for 3, drop set to 1st set weight for 3 (15 seconds rest between sets)
leg press close-stance: 15x4 plates aside; 10x6; 8x8, drop to 8x4
squats: 15x60; 10x80; 6x100
stiff-legged deadlifts: 10x60; 8x80; 8x100; 4x120